


Escaping Arkham

by ChaunceyRae



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Batman - All Media Types, Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-26 04:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30100251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaunceyRae/pseuds/ChaunceyRae
Summary: Waking up in a stranger's body is the least of Alex's worries. Trapped in Arkham, she needs to find a way to escape its cold, unforgiving walls. What happens when the movie you’ve seen is different than the reality you’re trapped in?
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

The gray walls of the asylum seemed to drain all color from the room. Alex stretched before getting out of the bed. The doctors had said that a psychiatrist would be evaluating her today. Well, the words they had used were actually “checking in” on her, but she knew what they’d meant. She took a seat on the window nook and glanced down on the town below. Iron bars framed her view of the desolate city around her. Gotham and its Arkham Asylum.  
Part of her wanted to believe that this was all part of a strange dream. Only as few days ago, she had awoken in a stranger’s body in the world of a comic book. Catching sight of her new body’s reflection in the window, she raised her hand to her face… Elizabeth’s hand… Elizabeth’s face… A sudden movement in the reflection caught her attention, and she turned to see a familiar face walk into the room. Her breath caught in her throat. Forcing herself to relax, she adjusted her position on the nook.   
“Good morning, Miss Arkham. The doctors have informed me that you appear to be suffering from amnesia,” the doctor said with a fake, polite smile that didn’t meet his ice blue eyes. “My name is Dr. Jonathan Crane… although we have quite a few times… Have you regained any memory of your life?”  
“No, sir,” Alex replied and held her head down. Memories of who this doctor truly was made it hard for her to calm down, but she needed his cooperation to have any chance of getting out of this place. A quick breath helped her compose herself. “I still don’t remember anything… The doctors told me that my name is Elizabeth Arkham, but I don’t know any more than that.”  
“And how are you feeling?”  
“Confused… but better,” Alex replied with a sheepish smile, but after a moment, she let the smile fall from her face. “Do you think… Is it possible I’ll never remember who I was?”  
Dr. Crane seemed to think it over before replying, “It’s possible… but let’s try to stay positive. After all, you don’t seem to be having any difficulties with new memories, am I right?”  
“Well, I’m not sure I’d be the most reliable person to answer that question, doctor.”  
A small, surprised laugh came out of Dr. Crane, and he gave her an amused look. “I suppose not. I guess that means we’ll have to see more of each other, so I can be sure.”  
“How long will I need to stay here?” Alex blurted out before slightly regretting it. Some people probably never left this place. At least not alive. “I overheard that I had jumped out of a window, but… I don’t remember anything about doing so. I understand it’s necessary to make sure I don’t try again, but if I can’t remember what caused me to jump, then how can I consider myself ‘fixed’ enough to leave?”  
Dr. Crane sighed and asked, “May I take a seat?”  
Alex nodded, and he took a seat on the chair by the wall.  
“My concern is that you may regain your memories after spending time in your home and might attempt to harm yourself again. Your family has a history of mental illness, and… this is certainly not your first time in this facility.”  
“So will I need to stay here until I get my memories back?”  
Doctor Crane took a moment to clean his glasses, and Alex felt her heart race. Thankfully, he didn’t have a briefcase with him.   
“Due to… your prior behavior, you are under a conservatorship. Your brother is in charge of your estate and can make decisions for your well-being. If he chooses to take care of your treatment at home with his doctors, then there’s nothing I can do but hope for the best.”  
Alex’s hand reflexively gripped the side of her shirt tightly. She didn’t like the sound of that.  
“What was I like? Did I seem like a danger to myself before?”  
Dr. Crane put his glasses back on and said thoughtfully, “Your brother never allowed you to stay this long before. The judge ordered for an extended stay due to… a concerned citizen’s request. All I can say is that you seem to be much livelier than before.”   
Alex gave him a confused look, so he elaborated, “The Elizabeth I’ve worked with… or at least attempted to work with was much more withdrawn. I don’t know much about you because you never really spoke much. If anything… you almost seem like a completely different person.”  
Alex could feel her heart in her chest but hid her fear with a confused smile. “How would I get out of this ‘conservatorship’? It doesn’t appear to me that my brother is making the right calls about my welfare.”  
Dr. Crane’s eyebrows rose for a moment in surprise, and Alex wondered if she’d said the wrong thing to the wrong person. It hardly mattered now. He’d already realized the difference between her and Elizabeth, since Alex hadn’t know enough about Elizabeth to pretend to be her. Even Alex herself didn’t know if she was truly crazy. The last thing she could remember as her former self was a shining set of headlights. Perhaps this was all in her head. Maybe she was truly Elizabeth, and this was all a coping mechanism for an insane girl in an insane world. “Alex” could be just a story in Elizabeth’s head, but Alex didn’t feel like that was the answer. But then again, do crazy people know that they’re crazy?  
After a moment of thought, Dr. Crane put his glasses back on and replied, “It would be a simpler matter to change the conservator in charge, but I suppose without your memories it’s hard to know which people to trust.”  
Alex nodded thoughtfully. The only person she could think of trusting would be Bruce Wayne, but from what she’d heard from the nurses Mr. Tall, Dark, and Brooding was still MIA. Probably finishing his training to become Gotham’s Dark Knight.  
“If you’d like to commit to breaking free from the conservatorship, then I’d be willing to help. However, there will be some evaluations and tests that I’ll need to administer first.”  
Chills went up Alex’s spine, but she nodded in confirmation. What other choice did she have?  
Dr. Crane’s eyes lit up with excitement, and he stood up to leave. With a second of hesitation, he turned back to her to say, “Well, I’ll prepare the documents and contact the DA’s office. Do you have any more questions for me?”  
“Yes, actually. Could you include math tests as well? I want to prove that I’m capable of handling my own finances. I know it’s not a necessity, but if I could…”  
“Very well. Basics or more advanced?”  
“Starting from basics to as complicated as you can reasonably make it. I want to test myself.”  
Dr. Crane smirked and asked, “Any other requests, Miss Arkham?”  
“A hidden camera? Maybe two?” Alex asked sheepishly, and Dr. Crane laughed in surprise. “As you said yourself… without my memories it’s hard to know who to trust, and it seems like my brother needs to be tested as well.”  
“So… you want me to ‘let it slip’ that you’re trying to get out of your conservatorship?”  
“If you could, that’d be great, but I’m sure he’ll find out soon anyway.”  
“I’ll be back to install some cameras before the end of the day… but do be careful. If your brother is as untrustworthy as you think, then he may try to harm you.”  
“And you’ll have proof.”  
Dr. Crane tried to hide a smirk by turning it into a smile and walking to the door. As his fingers touched the doorknob, he hesitated and said, “It would be a good idea to join your fellow patients for lunch today. Socializing and showing good behavior would look particularly good to the judge.”  
“Will do. Thank you, Dr. Crane.”  
After he left the room, Alex noticed his smile finally turn into a smirk. No doubt he’d be playing the field. If her brother turned out to be a terrible person taking advantage of his poor, helpless sister, then Dr. Crane would be known as the helpful, handsome doctor who “saved” one of his patients from an unjust system. And if she failed, then her brother would think of Dr. Crane as the reliable snitch who’d been on his side.  
Alex moved back onto the bed and laid down for a few minutes. Lunch would start soon. She needed to be relaxed and ready to pretend to be a sane, friendly person. Dr. Crane had been correct; she needed to make a good impression on the staff of the asylum. She may need them to come to her defense later. The sound of the door opening made her bolt up in bed to see a nurse standing at her doorway.  
“You ready for lunch, Miss Arkham? Dr. Crane said you were free to join the others today,” the nurse said while giving her a prying look.  
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you,” Alex replied and jumped out of bed.  
The nurse gave her a bewildered look but led the way to the cafeteria. Alex was going to have to work hard to undo whatever damage Elizabeth had done. Judging by the nurse’s reaction, Elizabeth was not the most reasonable person to deal with. No wonder Dr. Crane had looked at her earlier as though she’d sprouted a second head.  
The nurse left Alex at the lunchroom, and Alex walked over to the lunch line. A touch on her shoulder from behind her made her jump. Swiveling around, she found a blonde-haired young woman smiling at her.  
“Sorry to spook yah, darlin’. I haven’t seen you around here before and wanted to introduce myself. The name’s Franny. Nice to meet yah.”  
“Nice to meet you too. I’m Elizabeth,” Alex replied somewhat warily as the lunch lady slapped something white and mushy onto her plate. Alex made a silent prayer that it was just mashed potatoes.  
“We’ve got room at our table if you wanna join us,” Franny offered and tilted her head in the direction of a table occupied by an angsty-looking redhead. “Don’t worry about Pam. She’s much nicer than she looks. I promise.”  
“Okay… thanks,” Alex replied after some initial hesitation. It was probably better than sitting alone… or so she hoped.  
Franny happily led her to the table. Pam greeted her with a small wave as Franny introduced them. As Franny chatted happily, Alex took a moment to check around the room. Other patients had trickled in and were completely uninterested in their group. That was probably for the best.  
“Elizabeth!” Franny called out, bringing Alex’s attention back to the table. “Earth to Lizzie! Oh, is it okay if I call you ‘Lizzie’?”  
“It doesn’t really matter whether she agrees because you’ll do it anyway,” Pam snarked as she pretended to check her nails.  
“Oh, Pammy whammy, don’t be silly! I always respect my friends’ wishes,” Franny said, innocently batting her eyes.  
“You can call me ‘Lizzie’ if you want,” Alex replied as she turned her attention back to the food on her plate.  
“Inedible garbage,” Pam murmured under her breath as Alex poked the meatloaf with her spork.  
“Don’t be so negative, Pamster. Tilda tried her best,” Franny said with a wave to the lunch lady.   
Pam rolled her eyes and took a bite of her salad with a grimace. Alex took a daring bite of the mashed potatoes. They weren’t bad, just bland.  
“So… what’cha in for?” Franny asked cheerfully. “I’m here because I broke a cheating bastard’s windshield. And Pam is here for anger problems.”  
Pam gave Franny a frosty look but explained, “I had an… episode. I worked for a flower shop, and some asshole came in and pissed in my flowers. Needless to say… he won’t be doing that again.”  
Franny giggled, and Alex stopped herself from asking more. Morbid curiosity could get her into trouble here.  
“Well, they told me that I jumped from a window. Unfortunately, I don’t remember anything… The only thing I remember at all is waking up here.”  
Franny gasped and said sympathetically, “That must have been terrifying!”  
“Yeah… Dr. Crane is doing his best to help, but he doesn’t know if I’ll ever get my memories back. The nurses though… I’m pretty sure they don’t like me.”  
“They don’t like anyone,” Pam scoffed. “Not even each other.”  
Pam subtly pointed over to a hallway where two nurses looked like they were about to fight each other.  
Franny clicked her tongue and said forebodingly, “I’d be wary of getting too friendly with that Doc, hun. A pretty face like that can cause some… friction.”  
“Oh, I have no intention of that,” Alex said quickly.  
“Oh?” Franny asked playfully. “And why not?”  
“I don’t even know the first thing about myself. I’ve got to get myself sorted out before I start getting involved with other people. And aside from that even if I was Dr. Crane’s type… which I very much doubt… there’s still the fact that I’m his patient.”  
“Oh, doesn’t that make it a little hotter?” Franny asked with a dramatic swoon. “Forbidden love… Held apart by the standards of society.”  
“And the standards of basic human decency,” Pam said, and Alex couldn’t help but chuckle.  
Alex tried to shift her attention back to her food as Pam and Franny playfully argued.


	2. Chapter 2

The click of the door being unlocked made Alex quickly sit up. It was too late for visitors. A man in a suit walked into the room and threw Alex a dirty look as the light turned on. So this must be Elizabeth’s brother. She had expected this reaction when Dr. Crane had gotten a colleague to ask for an extended stay from the judge. It had been granted.   
“What the fuck are you doing, you little tramp?!” he asked as he closed the door behind him. “You know you need me! Who else is going to look after you?!”  
Carefully getting out of bed, Alex glanced around the room to make sure the cameras could see her before she asked, “Who are you?! Visiting hours are over. How did you get in here?”  
The man stood stunned for a moment. He seemed to be completely taken aback by her standing up to him. That didn’t last long, and he replied, “We own this freakshow… and you really don’t know who I am? I’m your brother… Jeremy. Damn. You must have really hit your head hard. Knocked the obedience right out of you. Guess I’ll have to remind you of who I am personally.”  
Alex stood her ground as he took a step closer. Jeremy tilted his head and narrowed his eyes as she said, “You need to get out of here. This is still an institution. If you do anything to hurt me, the people here will know.”  
Jeremy gave her a slimy look and asked, “But will they care? Fun fact, ‘little sis’, I’ve paid off the guards tonight. Even if the walls of this room weren’t insulated, they wouldn’t come running. Plus… you seem to have forgotten your reputation as well as your manners. All I have to say is that you had another episode, and no one will even question it. Now… here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to call up the DA’s office tomorrow and tell them… that it was just a mood swing or whatever. That you trust your brother and need him in charge. After all, who else is going to care about a rat like you?”  
“And if I don’t?”  
Jeremy laughed at her brazenness and said, “Then I’ll need to ‘reeducate’ you myself.”  
“Get the fuck out. You don’t belong here, and I’m not going to just do whatever some sleaze tells me to.”  
Jeremy laughed again before lashing out. His hand collided with her face and sent her crashing into the bed. As she pulled herself up, Jeremy hit her again, causing her to fall back towards the window. Alex grabbed the chair nearby and swung it at Jeremy. As she heard him curse, she ran for the door and yelled for help. Jeremy caught her arm and threw her back toward the bed.  
“I don’t think you fully understand the level of shit you’re in right now, dear sister of mine, but I can assure you… this is going to hurt you far more than it will me.”  
Alex touched something as she tried to pick herself back up. A textbook that Dr. Crane had lent her was now in her hand. She swung it at Jeremy’s head, causing him to back up a few feet before he knocked it out of her hands. Before he could hit her again, she kneed him in the groin. He doubled over in pain. Tackling him to the ground, she forced him onto his stomach and twisted his arm behind his back. Once again she shouted for help, and Jeremy let out a harsh laugh.  
“They’re not coming,” he mocked her as he struggled to get out of her grasp. “No one’s coming for your worthless ass!”  
Alex kept yelling for help as Jeremy struggled beneath her. No one came. Jeremy elbowed her in the throat and overpowered her, climbing on top of her and putting his hands around her throat. His face looked delighted at her pain as her lungs felt like they were on fire. She struggled and tried to claw at his face. Before she blacked out, his grip would loosen. After she took a few wheezing breaths, his hands would tighten, and once again the air would be stolen from her lungs.  
“Does this refresh your memory?” Jeremy mocked her with glee. “This is Arkham Asylum. No one here cares for you. No one’s going to save you. The only thing these people listen to is money, and as long as I pay them off, they’ll let me do whatever I want… even your own doctor sold you out. Now… who’s the boss?”  
The sound of the door opening barely registered as his hands relaxed around her throat. Jeremy was lifted off of her and slammed into a wall by two guards. Alex wheezed on the ground. A pair of hands reached out to her, and she flinched away.  
“It’s okay, Miss Arkham,” Dr. Crane’s voice sounded less monotonal than usual as he tried to calm her down. “You’re safe now. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”  
While Alex highly doubted that, she did feel somewhat reassured by his words. At least she was safe tonight. Jeremy’s screams of rage got farther in the distance. Alex tried to speak, but only a hoarse whisper came out.  
“Don’t speak. You need to rest your throat. It doesn’t appear to be too damaged, but I suspect that it’s going to be bruised at the very least,” Dr. Crane said in a tone that was much more relaxed than she liked.   
Alex pointed to the cameras, and Dr. Crane nodded. They got the footage. A small sigh of relief escaped her. Now she had evidence that Jeremy had attacked first, and he couldn’t whine that it was self-defense. Dr. Crane held out his hand to her.  
“Now let’s get you back on the bed,” Dr. Crane said gently.   
If Alex didn’t know who he was, she probably would have been tricked at the warmth in his voice. Part of her was still firmly suspicious. However, she wasn’t going to turn away a helping hand. She took his hand, and he helped her onto the bed. A nurse came into the room, and Dr. Crane rattled off a list of things to bring. Alex grabbed his sleeve and made a writing gesture with her hands. Dr. Crane quickly added a notepad and a pen to his list. As the nurse quickly walked out the door, a man in a police uniform appeared outside the door.  
“Is this Miss Elizabeth Arkham?” the man asked from the doorway.  
“Yes,” Dr. Crane said with a slight frown as Alex gave the officer a thumbs up. “She’s not exactly ready for questioning at this moment. Strangulation tends to make speaking afterwards quite difficult.”  
“And you are her doctor?”  
“Doctor Crane. And you are?”  
“Sergeant James Gordon. I was questioning one of your inmates when I heard all the commotion.”  
The nurse snuck past Gordon and dropped the supplies on the bed before leaving the room quickly. Alex picked up the notepad and began recounting what had happened and what Jeremy had said. Tearing off the page, she locked eyes with Dr. Crane. He gave her a small nod, and she handed the paper to Officer Gordon with shaking hands.  
“We also have footage of the attack,” Dr. Crane chimed in. “Miss Arkham was worried about backlash from her brother, so she asked to have hidden cameras installed. I doubt she thought he’d go this far, but I’m glad she convinced me to set them up.”  
Sergeant Gordon nodded as he read her note. Slowly, his expression began to change, and he assured her, “We won’t let this happen again. Here is my personal number. If you feel unsafe or need help, feel free to give me a call.”  
Tears threatened to leak from her eyes as she took his card. Alex wrote down two simple words onto her notepad: “Thank you.”  
Sergeant Gordon gave her a sad smile and said, “You’re welcome. It’s my job after all. Now… would security be able to give me access to the recording?”  
“Yes,” Dr. Crane said as he began going through what the nurse had brought.  
“Try to get some sleep tonight,” Sergeant Gordon told Alex as he opened the door to leave. After Alex gave him a shaky thumbs up, he left.  
Alex flinched as Dr. Crane applied medication to her wounds. She had probably cut herself as she’d tried to pry Jeremy’s hands off her throat. Dr. Crane held an ice pack to her neck until she held it in place on her own. As the world around her fully came back into focus, she noticed that she and Dr. Crane were the only ones in the room. Stifling a shiver, she glanced at him.  
“When I was young,” Dr. Crane started with a faraway look in his eyes. “My grandmother used to lock me in the atrium… There was this suit she’d make me wear. It had been doused in a chemical that would agitate the crows nesting in there.” Dr. Crane took a moment to compose himself before he continued, “I endured that for years… but I got away. I went to college, graduated, and never looked back. Situations change when you put work into them… The things that people do to you never truly leaves you… but it can get better.”  
Alex hesitantly held one of Dr. Crane’s hands in her own. She gave him a small smile. He could just be telling her a sob story to manipulate her, but she was sure the pain in his eyes was real. Dr. Crane gently held her hands in his for a moment in silence. He suddenly let go and stood up.  
“I need to make sure Sergeant Gordon leaves here with the footage. With that even the Gotham Police Department should be able to hold him longer. Keep the ice on your throat; it should help with the swelling. A nurse will bring you some medication to help you sleep.”  
Alex watched in silence as he walked out the door. She put Sergeant Gordon’s card on the dresser, keeping the ice on her throat. The adrenaline had died down. Now she was starting to feel the pain and soreness from the assault. She laid on the bed with the ice pack resting on her neck. Despite how tired she felt, she doubted that she’s get any sleep tonight.  
The sound of the door creaking open made her lurch out of the bed, sending the ice pack onto the floor. A nurse walked in with a plastic cup filled with water and a mysterious paper cup. After putting both on the side table, the nurse said, “Dr. Crane said that you need this.”  
Alex hesitantly looked inside the paper cup. Two nondescript pills were in it. After getting a look of impatience from the nurse, Alex quickly took the pills. She doubted that Dr. Crane would hurt her at this moment.   
The nurse quickly took the empty cups and Alex’s pen and left the room. After retrieving the ice pack from the floor, she got back into the bed with a small groan of discomfort. She stared at the ceiling with the ice pack on her neck. After a few minutes, she started to feel her eyes start to flutter shut and put the ice pack on the table. She heard it fall to the ground and closed her eyes with a sigh.   
When she awoke, light streamed into the room. Her neck was still sore, and when she tried to talk, her voice came out raspy. The now-melted ice pack was on the floor beside her bed. A knock at the door made her sit up a little more quickly than she should have. Dr. Crane walked into the room with a sympathetic smile, but that pretty face didn’t fool her. Still, she returned the smile. It was only polite.  
“How are you feeling today?” he asked as he gave her a pen.  
Alex wrote: “Recovering from trauma. Throat still raspy.”  
Dr. Crane chuckled and replied, “That’s to be expected. The district attorney would like to speak with you. Should I send them in?”  
“Yes!” she wrote quickly.  
Dr. Crane left the room, and Alex flipped her notepad to a new page and began rewriting what had happened with Jeremy. Dr. Crane reappeared with a man and a woman. They introduced themselves as Carl Finch, the District Attorney, and Rachel Dawes, the Assistant District Attorney. After giving them what she had written, she answered a few more questions about her situation. Mr. Finch thanked her for her time, but Rachel took her hand.  
“Miss Arkham… we’re going to do everything we can to help you, but it’s not going to be easy. Is there anyone you can think of to transfer the conservatorship over to until this trial is over?”  
“No. I have no one,” Alex wrote after gently taking her hand away from Rachel.   
Dr. Crane entered the room and warned sternly, “As I said before, please be careful with my patient. She’s in a vulnerable state. If you’re done here, then you may leave.”  
Rachel gave him a look, but Carl got up to leave. As Rachel turned back to Alex, Alex gave her a wave. Rachel got up and walked over to the door. After a tense moment with Dr. Crane at the door, Rachel left.  
Dr. Crane watched her leave with a smile. After the door closed, he asked, “Are you alright?”  
“Feeling pretty popular if I do say so myself,” Alex wrote, and Dr. Crane relaxed.  
“Very good. You need to take it easy.”  
“What about the tests?”  
Dr. Crane looked at her with an impressed smile and said, “I suppose that shouldn’t be too taxing. Should we start with math?”


End file.
